I've used this service ever since I was little when my parents would need to do some last minute Christmas shopping. We'd take the car from our house to Chessington World of Adventures and park there for free, then catch the park and ride bus which would go non-stop to Kingston - cutting the trip down to about 15-20 minutes. Then spend the whole day in Kingston doing all the Christmas shopping and come home in the evening using the same service.
Back in the day, my parents would have paid a fare of 70p each (Ha, do you remember those days?) while my brother and I, being children, would have gone for free!
Things have changed a bit since then, and the fare for adults has risen to £2 but it's still a very reasonable price to pay when you consider the current petrol prices. And better still, children can still ride for free when accompanied by an adult.
Perfect for families!
As I live in Chessington, it couldn't be any better and I save a lot of money using the service.
But anyone living south of Kingston can also benefit from the service - just drive to Chessington World of Adventures, avoiding the traffic as best you can, then let the bus deal with the heavy traffic into Kingston town centre during the Christmas rush. A big petrol saver! And good for the environment.
- The service is already in operation this year (since 7th November 2009)
- Last day of operation is Saturday 16th January 2010
- No service on Christmas Day, Friday 25th December 2009
- No service on Boxing Day, Saturday 26th December 2009
- Full service on New Years Day, Friday 1st January 2010
- £2.00 return fare (bargain!) - don't lose your return ticket!
- Accompanied children travel free
- First Park & Ride bus from Chessington World of Adventures:
Mondays to Saturdays - 7:30am | Sundays - 8:30am
- Frequent buses, at least one every 10 minutes
- Last Park & Ride buses from Kingston:
Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat - 7pm, 7:30pm, 8pm, 8:30pm, 9pm | Thursdays - 8pm, 8:30pm, 9pm | Sundays - 6pm
- Kingston bus stop location:
Eden Street, next to the Alderman Judge Mall entrance to Eden Walk shopping centre - opposite Model Zone
- Chessington World of Adventures car park location:
Postcode: KT9 2HS
Satnav co-ordinates: X:517580, Y:162785
Street Map